Closer than they Appear
by DistractedlyHere
Summary: My answer to the S3 spoilers. I'd call it fluff. DL tension...but with a surprise twist hint: its a MacLindsay fic.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Based on my interpretations of the Season 3 spoilers I read. I own nothing – trust me.

"Broadway on Broadway" wasn't the type of event Danny Messer would normally attend but his Mom wanted to go and he grudgingly complied on the condition it would get him off the hook for such obligations for a long time. Standing in Times Square listening to a bunch of show tunes with 50,000 other people on a beautiful Sunday afternoon wasn't his first choice on how to spend his day off. He wore his badge on his belt just for the birth it created when winding through the crowd. As he feared, after about an hour his mother was finding the crowd and the decibel level overwhelming. Danny was looking right and left gauging the best way through the crowd while guiding his Mom over to the food vendors lined up in front of the Marriot Marquis. In one visual sweep, out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of what seemed to be a familiar wavy brown head of hair. He was now craning his neck to try to see around the crowd to confirm it was Monroe. Once he and his mother safely reached the curb and took their place in the seemingly endless line of people queuing to spend $5 on a small lemonade, he turned to see if he could get a better look. No doubt, there slightly North of him, facing the stage, herself radiating in the Indian Summer sunlight, was Lindsay Monroe. He knew calling to her would be pointless in the din of the event, and things had been tense between them since he had tried to confront her on the chemistry between them.

He had been there for her after an undercover operation went bad. The event itself had highlighted to him how much he felt for her. It set him on edge. It had been more frustrating that she appeared to be pulling away each time he tried to raise the issue. He had had enough. They were adults, and it was about time she stopped running. The conversation hadn't gone how he had planned. He hadn't planned on snapping at her practically demanding that she open up to him, or at least share why she kept her distance from him. She had only looked at him seriously and resignedly in the eye and in almost a whisper said _"I'm not free to. There's more than your feelings at stake."_ And she left. She offered nothing more in the way of an explanation. He had felt rejected and shut out. He was tired of banging his head against the brick walls she built between them.

Now, here, she was looking happy and light outside of work, and he was beginning to wonder if approaching her under circumstances outside of the job would have a different result. He looked to his Mom wondering if he could somehow slip away from her for a bit to speak to Monroe. As he looked back he saw Monroe smiling and waving to someone further up Broadway than himself. He tried to squint into the Noontime sun to see if he could tell who was returning her wave. But there were so many bodies it was fruitless. He decided instead to keep his focus on Monroe. By now there was a man with a child on his shoulders in his line of sight to Lindsay. He leaned left and then right to try to get a better view but all he could see was a portion of her back. After a moment or two he saw her lean forward and two arms encircle her waist. The skills of observation he learned on the job served him well as he could tell they were well-toned masculine arms and he was pretty sure he could make out a wedding ring on the left hand. As the crowd ebbed and flowed Danny could make out only bits and pieces, but the couple was staying in the embrace. Danny could see that she was pressing against the man hugging her, her own profile blocking his but Danny could see he was leaning down a bit, perhaps speaking into her ear to greet her over the crowd and music. Mrs. Messer pulled at Danny's elbow to indicate to him that they were advancing in the lemonade line. He hesitated to move for fear he would lose his angle. He took the step and a half, and was able to see even a bit more of Montana. Danny could see her grin, her delight to be in the arms of the man holding her.

Things were beginning to fall into place for him. Monroe was spoken for and that's why she was ducking any intimacy from him. On top of that the guy was married, it was all a closely-held dirty secret.

Now the man had moved one hand to her hair and he pulled her into kiss. It wasn't protracted or inappropriate in public, but even from his distance Danny could see the passion there. The man's fingers were driving Lindsay closer to him and she had reached up holding him around the neck. Again the back of her own head blocking her lover from Danny's view. Again Danny and his mother advanced in line, moving him another step and a half further from Monroe.

When Danny turned back the man was standing on the opposite side of Monroe so she was between them and the man with the kid on his shoulders was again an obstacle. Danny sighed, the aggravation and frustration that clouded his recent relationship with Monroe rising in his chest.

"Come on." He said too loudly while slamming one hand against his own thigh.

"I know dear, it is a terribly long line isn't it?" His mother replied.

He only looked at his Mom, bit his lip and nodded absently.

Just as Danny thought he would have no choice but to walk over there, the man put his child back on the ground, giving Danny a clear view of Lindsay Monroe standing next to her superior and direct supervisor, Mac Taylor, who's arm remained around her waist indicating a relationship which would be in clear violation of at least one department policy.

A/N: This might be a one shot, although I do have a sequel in mind.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Ok. If the accident you are about to read were real it would be an awkward scene because everyone would be wearing masks…so I took a little license with a chemical that burns on contact but not by inhalation. Forgive me. And the chapter itself is choppier than I'd like it to be, but I forgave myself.

Chapter 2 – Exactly What She Is

The tension was high in the lab, everyone was feeling it. Everyone was tense. Adam couldn't even begin to speculate what root cause was but he knew Danny was uptight and Lindsay was uptight and Mac seemed even more uptight than usual.

Adam was preparing an experiment, he needed to pull some corrosion off a piece of metal and nothing else was doing the trick, so he pulled out a vile of hydrofluoric acid to strip it.

He was so engrossed, and Lindsay walked so softly it didn't register with him when she set up an experiment on the table across from him. He would have warned her.

It happened in a instant. The vile slipped out of his grip and shattered. Glass and liquid flying in Lindsay's direction.

It was slow motion. Danny on the other side of the lab could see it but couldn't stop it. Some of the drops landed on Lindsay's lab coat instantly burning through the sleeve of her left arm.

"Adam." She said calmly. "What is that?" She was looking him in the eye.

"Hydrofluoric acid." He answered in a panicked tone and loudly enough for Danny to hear.

Danny pounded on the glass wall to get Hawkes' attention to come into the lab, and he rushed to the table where Lindsay and Adam were.

"Adam, call 911 and then get Mac. Lindsay take off your lab coat. Hawkes!" Danny yelled over his shoulder as Sheldon entered the room. "Get the first aid kit and the calcium gluconate gel. Lindsay's got a Hydrofluoric burn."

"Oh shit" Sheldon whispered under his breath. He knew, as did most in the lab did, that Hydrofluoric acid is extremely hazardous. It binds to calcium on contact causing rapid cell death and is difficult to neutralize. Tissue destruction can continue for days. If adequate supplies of calcium are unavailable for vital bodily functions, exposure can be fatal.

Her arm on the lab table, Danny faced her holding her now trembling hand and elbow. Hawkes was now behind her applying the gel. She was biting her lip, her eyes closed. She seemed to shudder.

"Montana, you need to hang in there for a bit. EMS will be here soon and they'll take you to the hospital." Danny was stating the obvious in an attempt to keep her conscious and out of shock. He looked into her eyes, himself realizing it was the first time since that day in Times Square that he had. He missed them.

Mac rushed into the lab, Adam close behind. Mac ran the few steps to her.

She held up her right arm practically stopping him in his tracks with her elbow. Danny watched as she intently looked into Mac's eyes and almost imperceptibly shook her head as if saying 'I'm OK, don't blow it now.' She did rest her forearm against his chest and even in that limited contact, through clothes and in front of coworkers, Danny could sense her muscles relax. She was relieved, safer now that Mac was with her.

"Lindsay," Mac held her hand and looked directly into her eye. "You're going to be ok."

She bit her lip and nodded quickly.

"Does it hurt?" His voice a deep whisper.

More quick nodding.

"Adam," Mac barked. "What's the strength of that solution?"

Adams rushed to the area where the accident had happened and grabbed the broken vile.

"50."

"Lindsay," Hawkes gently handed over a pill. "Take this," Hawkes was still behind her so Mac took the pill and placed it in her mouth. "It's a calcium supplement it will help until you can get to the hospital." Hawkes explained.

Both Danny and Mac each still holding an arm could feel her body cooling with damp sweat. Each of them searching her eyes could see she was losing focus.

"Mac. I feel nauseous. Its in my bloodstream isn't it?" She said looking for his gaze but not able to hold it with her own.

"No, Lindsey. It's the pain and shock that's making you nauseous. You're going to be OK."

_Jesus, call her sweetheart, call her Baby. Comfort her!_ Danny was yelling in his mind. He was shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He could feel Lindseys' grip on his wrist weakening.

"Mac….Mac…" She trailed off.

"Lindsay, it's a diluted solution, and a small burn, you are going to be fine." _Sweetheart!_ Danny added in his mind. His anger with Mac rising.

Now her whole body was trembling slightly. Hawkes was alert, afraid she may start convulsing.

Her eyes closed and opened again slowly. She turned to Danny.

"Danny," her voice a hoarse quivering whisper.

"Yeah Montana." He used her nickname deliberately as no one was calling her sweetheart he hoped to convey some affection.

"Can you kick that trash pail over here?" Danny did as she asked and she bent forward and vomited. She pulled her hand from Mac's grip to wipe her mouth with the back of her hand. Silent tears had begun rolling down her cheeks.

Mac grabbed her hand again. Steadying her with his other hand on her back.

"Lindsay, its your body's reaction, its not the acid."

She was trying to nod but it was hard with the trembling. She was blinking more and more slowly and Mac and Danny both noticed when she did so her eyes seemed to want to be backward in her skull. Her head bobbed forward as she lost consciousness just as EMS arrived.

Mac supported her body with his and Danny maintained his grip on her afflicted arm.

"Hydrofluoric burn, 50 solution, I applied calcium gluconate gel and gave her a 500mg oral calcium supplement. She just lost consciousness, vomited once, was in shock." Hawkes reported to the paramedics.

"Her name is Lindsay Felicia Monroe. 26 years old, approximately 115 pounds. Take her to Bellevue burn." Mac ordered. "Hawkes go with her, nothing happens to her that you don't know about, you understand me?"

"Yes boss." Hawkes said helping EMS with the stretcher. Lindsey's right hand drifted loose of Mac grip as they rolled her away.

"You're not going with her?" Danny was irate as Mac snapped opened his phone.

"No, Danny I'm not. Dispatch, this is Detective Taylor I need to speak with Bellevue Burn Unit immediately."

"She's scared Mac." Danny yelled.

Mac turned to face the younger man.

"I know exactly what she is." Mac said, his eyes and words delivering their own acid burn. Mac turned to the phone "This is Detective Taylor of the NYPD Crime Lab, one of our CSI's, Lindsey Monroe is on her way in with a Hydrofluoric acid burn. It happened 12 minutes ago, it was a 50 solution, burn smaller than a quarter. She was vomiting and shockey. I need to know what the expected prognosis and treatment will be." Mac was silent, listening.

"I expected she may need to be transfused, correct?" Silence. "She is A/B negative, how are your stocks?" Pause. "OK, I'll see if anyone in our precinct can donate. She has no family in New York, I am her Heath Care Proxy. I will be there immediately."

"Adam," Mac said brickely aafter he snapped the phone shut. "Ask around for anyone who is A/B negative and tell them to get to Bellevue to give and be sure they reference Lindsay's name. Danny can you call Flack and see if he can do the same with this guys."

Danny nodded., but didn't forgive.

She was in shock and she needed to be observed, she wasn't out of the woods.

It was later that night that Danny watched from the hallway around the corner from her room. He could see through the glass as Mac approached her. She began sobbing at the sight of him alone. She held out her arms encircling Mac's neck. He held her and spoke to her gently. Mac pulled back slightly and kissed her forehead, her cheek, her lips. He was urgent, grateful she was alive but he was sweet and tender. Mac himself got into her bed and shifted so he was sitting up, his back leaning on the bed, with Lindsay against his chest. She was clutching at the front of his shirt, her face nuzzled into his neck. His brow creased with concern, his arms around her, he spoke to her soothingly. Danny couldn't hear the words through the glass but he could see she was being cared for, even lovingly he allowed himself to admit.

The next day Danny came to see Lindsay in the hospital.

"Hey." He said softly.

"Hey." She said weakly smiling.

"How you doing?" he sat down next to the bed.

"I'm Ok." She was glad to see him. Things hadn't been the same between them for a while, and she missed his friendship.

"Yeah? I came to see you last night. But Mac was here," he didn't mean to start in on her right away, but he was ready to implode. He let his words trail off.

"Oh," was her only reply.

"Yeah. Nice to have a boss that cares for his people like that." Danny said. He did feel guilty for pushing her like this when she was injured. But they were inadvertently forcing him to keep their secret and he hated it. It ate at him, it made him cruel.

"Yeah." She said looking at her bed sheets.

"Of course, something like that, I guess that can be a slippery slope. I mean, a boss cross the line or something. That can get sticky and ugly real quick." Her eyes met his. She understood his meaning, she knew he knew. She was tired and sick and weak. He was coming at her now and a part of her hated him for it.

"Yeah I guess so." She answered and swallowed hard, not because she thought she couldn't handle Messer, but because she felt so queasy. "Yeah. Something like that. I guess, if it did happen," she paused for emphasis "could break up a whole team." She could see that rattled him so she took it as her cue to continue.

"I mean supposed two people, each lonely for their own reasons, become friends. Then more than friends. And although never unprofessional, are breaking rules. If it came to light, the powers that be could break up the whole team that works together. I wouldn't want to see anything like that happen," she said, staring him coolly in the eyes.

He nodded and blinked. He never thought about the consequences that way. The most he had thought about was that it might break them up, Lindsay and Mac. And he wasn't sure why, although he knew it had nothing to do with professionalism, he wanted them broken up. He recognized immediately the selfishness of that. He wanted her for his own. He didn't want Mac to have any claim to her. But Mac did. And it was a secret claim. And Danny knew.


	3. Chapter 3

I wasn't really going keep this Fic going. But it was pointed out to me that there aren't that many Mac/Lindsay fics so I figured I might as well. I also just recently watched "Corporate Warriors" and "Grand Murder at Central Station" and there's just something about a man in authority 

She let the information sit with Danny for a moment. She loved Mac. It wouldn't change. Nothing at work changed. Mac did not give her easier cases, Mac treated her no differently. Mac resisted for as long as he could, they both did. But they both could not deny their feelings, or the spark. She swallowed hard, she was ill. All of this was her worst nightmare, someone finding out. Oh, and the acid poisoning didn't help.

"Danny," she said looking at him as his face seemed to swirl around the room. "We didn't mean for it to happen."

Maybe he nodded. It was hard to tell with his image so blurred.

"He was sweet to me. I was new in this city, alone, no one welcomed me here." Danny looked to the ground, he certainly hadn't. "Mac gave me tips, places to go, things to learn. At first is was all second-hand. Then he came with me. He showed me things. He listened to me. He was alone, without Claire. I listened to him." She felt as if liquid were pouring into her mouth through her molars. It was a foreign taste of some foreign liquid.

She looked to Danny's blurry face. It seemed to be examining his shoes. There was the soft whir of the ocean behind her ears, somewhere. But she didn't hear Danny,'s voice so she kept going. She knew he was part of the team they guarded themselves against for so long. But she felt so tired, so weak. She knew she wasn't making sense, but she desperately wanted Danny to understand.

"We spent time together. Danny I don't know when the line was crossed. Soon, I couldn't imagine my days off without him. We spent every off minute together. I knew I loved him and he was home to me."

Danny swallowed hard. He tried to look into her eyes but he could tell her pupils were dilated and she was drifting on the effects of either the acid or the pain killers they gave her to combat it. She was drifting, and he ambushed her and he felt a pit of guilt in his stomach. He felt the pit of regret that he had not been kinder to her when she was new in town. He could have shown her the city. He could have been the man to introduce her to New York. But he hadn't been. That was his choice. Mac had been. And now she loved Mac, and that kicked the air out of his lungs.

Lindsay, despite the spinning image before her, could smell the weakness. She was angry and bitter that Danny could push her now. But she was determined not to show the weakness in front of him.

"He asked me to the Mayor's dinner with him, but we agreed to keep it quiet. And then our pagers went off. And we ended up lying to you," She paused, she knew now she must move in for the kill. "Well, I did. Mac told you where he was. I lied to you to keep our secret." There, I lied to you, for us.

Danny shifted in his chair

"But that night, I went home with him. He is strength to me. He is my lifeline. I cannot inhale or exhale without thinking of him, his smell, the depth of his eyes, the touch of his skin." She stopped and Danny shifted again. She knew now she was being cruel, so she paused. That, and she thought she may vomit again. She felt as though there were no lining in her stomach any longer. She bit it back.

"Danny?" she asked.

"Mmmm?" he was reeling. She was reeling, for different reasons but they both knew it.

"I'm feeling a bit like shit right now." He rolled his eyes. He should not have confronted her when she was ill. She could actually still die from these wounds. But he didn't let his mind rest there for very long. He was angry with her for spurning him.

"I love him."

"I know," he paused. "Now."

"You can tell his superiors if you want. But he hasn't treated you, or anyone else unfairly."

"I know." She could tell he sounded sick too, so she decided to just give him one last shot for clarity.

"If this did kill me, someone besides him should know that I am utterly and completely devoted to him. I will be cheated of the life I want with him, the lifetime of waking up next to him and feeling his arms around me." _You_ j_ackass_, Lindsay added in her head.

Danny's eyes closed. He absorbed her words, and he knew why she was so forceful in them. She was in a hospital bed and he chose now to confront her on what he knew for weeks. He thought about trying to make a case against Mac. Mac still wore his wedding band, from a marriage with another woman. When this accident happened Mac put his reputation before Lindsay's need for comfort. How devoted could he be to Lindsay? Danny considered voicing these thoughts. He didn't want Lindsay to be with Mac, he also didn't want her to get hurt. But she would say she knew Mac better than he did. And that was very likely true.

"Am I interrupting something?" Mac asked in the doorway taking in the image of both Danny and Lindsay with their eyes closed.

"No." She answered succinctly, completely. "But I think I may be sick again."

Mac walked quickly to her side. Danny didn't move.


End file.
